Chapter 4 - Part 1: Dealing with the goo

Two days later in the morning, while they were preparing to head to Fever Flats with the rest of the expedition, a certain Zebstrika approached to them. It was Emily. When she reached them, she offered to pull the wagon, instead of Cornelius. When Katrina asked her why, she answered that since they were not any wagons available for her to move, Chandra suggested that she help them in the meantime.

After discussing it for a couple of minutes, they agreed of letting her replace Cornelius. While he, Harry and Emily went to get the stuff she needed to pull the wagon; the rest headed for the orphanage. The day before they had a long talk about Stuart’s situation and the possibility to take him with them. They recognized the risks of taking him with them as well as his age. The expedition was not a place of a kid; but with the right care, he wouldn’t stumble in any kind of trouble, as long as he doesn’t take part in any of the teams missions until he reaches enough experience in more controlled conditions.

The talk with Seren was short, but enough to let Stuart in the care of them. The kid hugged one last time his caretaker and promise her to visit her when he was taking his few possessions with him. He felt relieved when he was out of the orphanage, being carried by Brandon. The pair talked a little on the way to the wagon of minor things to know each other’s better.

After loading their stuff into the wagon, Cornelius guarding their rear and with Emily ready, they headed to the mass of Pokémon gathering for the advance. When the remaining teams joined them, the expedition began the march to the south. The air was getting fresh in the next hours, a relief for Katrina and Harry who were getting tired of the heat and the shades of brown.

On the way, following the river, they saw how the goo was increasing in concentration. When they were close to Fever Flats, Brandon was feeling a bit nervous: he was sensing a powerful witch in the vicinity. Sabine corroborated his commentary when she sniffed the air. The magic was impregnated in some parts of the jungle while they were passing. At arrival, they hopped down, with Harry and Sabine going ahead to learn about the situation while the rest prepared the tent. After they finished, they waited for the news. An hour later, their partners arrived and updated them with all they managed to hear.

“So basically… there are two witches here?” Katrina asked.

“Yep; a huge Goodra called Gilgamarsh and… Madeline” Harry answered, remarking the last name.

“Wait… wasn’t Madeline the Scholars leader prior of Chandra?”

“As far as that Espurr told us, she is” Sabine answered.

“We also have other tasks to do” Cornelius pointed. “Like capturing the unknown Pokémon, fabricate weapons against Gilgamarsh and train with his minions”

“Um, how we should proceed? Brandon asked, because it was too much to do in a very short time.

There was a moment of silence before Sabine spoke. “If you want my opinion, we should help here on the surface; then deal with Madeline and finally get us some weapons”

The rest kept quiet. They expected that Madeline was the first priority in her terms.

“Why are you so quiet?” She looked to everyone.

Harry shook his head. “N-nothing; so the rest agree with her?”

All of them nodded.

“Then let’s find Fracture, maybe he knows more about the unknown Pokémon”

“Okiie” Katrina looked to the other two Pokémon that there were not participating in the tasks. “Emily, you don’t have problems in watching Stuart while we’re gone?”

“I think I can handle it” She had some experience with the children, so it wasn’t a real issue for her, aside that she was staying with them.

“Please be safe” Stuart asked them. He didn’t understand what they were talking; but from the intonation, he deduced it wasn’t good.

“We will, don’t worry” Brandon assured him and rubbed a little his head to calm him. He felt that he was acting like some kind of big brother.

“Alright guys, time to move” Cornelius said and the group headed to accomplish their tasks.

On the way, Brandon approached to Sabine, given that he had some doubts from the discussion.

“Um, hey Sabine” He called her.

She looked to him and moved to be beside him. “What is it?”

“Why… why didn’t you headed to Madeline first?” The question was both curiosity and concern.

“Because you gave me the idea” She smiled.

That left him confused. “What idea?”

She cleared her throat. “When I hunted you, I did it recklessly; not thinking and just attacking randomly; didn’t I?”

“Yeah?” He remembered it very well.

“Well, this time I want to know the prey; what she’s capable of and the area she moves”

“So you’re waiting?” He supposed.

“Yes; I don’t want to fuck this up” The last time her volatile nature was too much against Morgan and almost sent the mission to hell. “So if I keep myself with a mind cool, then we’ll have a chance to make it”

That part surprised him. “We?”

“Of course” She raised an eyebrow and spoke in a funny tone. “You expected me to catch her by myself?”

“I… don’t know” He wasn’t able to say that she couldn’t do it to not disrespect her.

“If I’m honest with you, I don’t think I can do it, not on my own” She looked away. “I need a clan for that”

“A… clan? Like some of the witch hunters?”

“A family is also a clan, who looks for each other and trust each other to get the job done”

“But…”

“I know that some clans are families, Zavatier made sure that I know that, but they live for the hunt” She looked back to him. “In our case, we live for ourselves”

“That… includes you?” He was afraid to ask because of her doubts of joining them.

“Heh, yeah; now I live for the family”

Brandon decided to change the topic. “And how do you pretend to catch Madeline?”

“I have a few ideas and you’re the important element”

Again he was confused. “Why?”

“I’ll explain that later, but it involves your witch detection”

They took them a few minutes to find Fracture, who was with Mirya at the base of a tree house. They explained to the group the behavior, combat skills and the location of the Pokémon. The Shaymin asked them to not be too harsh on her and the Archeops told them about a few considerations of the guilds, like bring her to Chandra for study. After the briefing, they headed to the jungle to find her. Once they were in, they stopped to make a plan.

“Any idea of how to catch her?” Brandon asked.

“If what they assume is right, I, Brandon and Cornelius will have some high ground” Harry said.

“The problem is when she moves the fingers to use Metronome” Sabine commented. “If she has any luck, we’ll be screwed”

“Only a small distraction and one hit should be enough to take her with us” Cornelius suggested.

“But we need to know exactly where she is” Katrina pointed.

“You know you could ask me and Harry to track the Pokémon in question from the start, because we have a better nose and stuff” Sabine commented moving a paw and rolling eyes.

She put her poke face mode on as usual with her typical commentaries. “Sabine…”

“We’re wasting time here” Harry cut the conversation. “If we want to capture this Pokémon, we have to move now” He looked to Brandon. “Be alert if we’re getting close to Guilgamarsh; if what they say about him is true, we won’t have the strength to fight him head on; even if Cornelius can hold him back”

“Okay”

“If he can freeze him, our escape could be smoother” Sabine suggested.

“And I don’t want to find it out with all those minions backing him up” Harry said.

“Okay, chat’s over; let’s find our unknown Pokémon” Cornelius ordered and began to move.

They used their standard formation. Harry and Sabine as scouts, Katrina and Brandon in the middle; and Cornelius guarding their rear. The jungle made their work difficult, since there were too many scents to track, mixing with each other. The only clue they had was the goo. The creature is supposedly been covered in the same substance as the river, from what they heard from Fracture and Mirya. At some points, the Golurk had to use Phantom force to bypass complicated sectors he normally couldn’t otherwise. In a few opportunities, the Absol warned them about the increasing magic essence, having to change the direction of the search.

Half an hour later, Harry picked up some goo scent in an area that was supposed to be clear of it. When he told that to their group, they slowed the pace and tried to be silent as possible. Some meters ahead, they found the source of the odor. The figure matched the description of Fracture. From what they saw, she was walking without an apparent direction and with her eyes looking as she was lost.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I feel pity for her” Katrina whispered.

“Mirya thinks she’s a victim of the witch’s influence” Sabine commented in the same volume. “Let’s hope she’s right about it”

“Well, Chandra can determine that, but we have to bring her with us” Harry pointed.

“Just one precise hit in the head and it should be enough” Cornelius said.

“I think if all of us attack…” Brandon started.

“Yipi, one of us has to attack her” She realized what he was thinking.

“But we need to distract her so the one who attacks has a clear shot” Harry said.

“And… who’ll take the shot?” Brandon asked.

“Let me try” Sabine offered. There was a weird look in Harry and Katrina. “Let me guess, you think I’m going to exceed myself”

“To be honest, yes” Harry said bluntly.

“Guys, maybe we should let her try” Brandon said. “I think she can knock out with one attack”

“And in case she’s still standing, I can drain a part of her strength to avoid further complications” Cornelius added.

The pair was still not convinced at all, but if their partners believed that this was going to work, then they have to, too. “Alright, we’ll do it” Harry accepted. “The rest of us have to distract her in any way we can”

“Let me with Brandon handle it first” Cornelius recommended, causing Brandon to look at him concerned.

“What do you have in mind?” Katrina raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll get her what she wants”

“O-kiie, we’ll be near and I’ll give you some boost”

“Thanks Kat, Bran, are you ready?”

“Em, what I have to do?”

“Half of her attacks won’t do any damage to me, but I need you to block the other two; I don’t think we want be hit by anything that comes from her Metronome move”

“O-kay”

Everyone took position behind the trees and bushes that surrounded the creature. Then Cornelius, with Brandon on top of him, walked to the Pokémon. She turned around and saw the giant approaching to her. Anyone else would have thought on facing such an adversary, but she didn’t hesitate and began to attack him with Double edge and Dynamic punch. None of them made a scratch on the leg she was attacking; but even so, she kept doing it for a while.

When she passed to use Poison Jab, Brandon chanted a spell for his Protect move and covered Cornelius completely. In that way, the plan of the Golurk was going well so far. By letting her attack, she was getting more and more tired. He was expecting to reach her breaking point by just standing there and doing nothing. When she realized nothing was working, she began to move her hands.

“Be ready Bran” Cornelius told him.

“Em…”

“Magic make some moves work in a different way than they supposed to be, right?”

“I know, but… I’ve never did it for this case before”

“Now we’re going to find out; if you cannot stop it completely, let it through; remember what types I’m vulnerable”

Brandon wasn’t sure how magic with Protect could hold against anything that Metronome could launch, it was insane; but he had to trust Cornelius’s judgement. He maybe could withstand one attack; two at best before his strength weakens. The other option was to ask him to share a part of his force; but so far, the quantity the Absol would receive was not enough given that his learning was limited.

When the energy was charged, the Pokémon released it in a huge bright. When it was gone, they saw that nothing happened to them. What they realized was that the jungle had more light than before. Looking up, they checked that the sky was clear of any clouds. She used Sunny day.

“Well, that’s the only problem with Metronome” Cornelius commented with Brandon. “It’s all random chance”

The Pokémon tried a few more times, with Air cutter and Leaf tornado as the only attacks she could make. The first one was able to trespass the barrier, doing little damage; and the second one was avoided by Cornelius disappearing using Phantom force and Brandon jumping away. At that point she was at the border of exhaustion and ready to faint, but she didn’t give up.

“Sabine, better not aim at the head” Cornelius suggested. “Aim to the chest and try to do it as weakest as possible; our friend here is in no condition to battle anymore”

Sabine approached slowly and following Cornelius instruction, she used Dark pulse with a small amount of negative thoughts to make it easy. She felt strangely tired when she was charging her attack, but she decided to ignore it; and when she was ready, she threw it. The impact made the Pokémon fall and after trying a few times to stand up, she couldn’t hold any longer and collapsed on the ground, panting and closing the eyes to rest.

“At least we didn’t have to fight” Katrina commented when she and Harry were approaching to the group.

“I guess it was for the best” Harry added. “I wonder how she ended like this”

“We’ll have our answers later” Cornelius said and grabbed the Pokémon carefully. “We’ll have to bring it with the Trackers or the locals, right?”

“Yep, let’s get back”

They took less time to get out from the jungle than expected, but even so they moved carefully, just in case. They encountered Lydia on the way and together with Sibyl, who joined them later; they delivered the Pokémon to Chandra. After that, asking for directions and information, they reached the practice area where other teams were testing their abilities against the witch’s minions, with Sinclair, Kassi and Cerise supervising. As far as they know, they were harmless since they were cut off from the witch, so there was no real problem in going at full force.

When Harry was the first one testing his move set against the minions, Cerise made a quick pass to check how they were doing and a few suggestions regarding of grass type moves. In their case, they didn’t have to worry about it, since no one had them. Resuming their test, the Mightyena used Incinerate at full strength against a group of them. The minions were partially vaporized by the intense heat.

The next was Katrina, proving that only dig would find any trouble if she was caught in any kind of attack the moment she would make her way to the underground, Iron tail did some damage and Psychic caused more. In case of Sabine, she had to be in her ‘Melting everything’ mode to become a big threat to the witch with her move set.

Cornelius, on the other hand, annihilated a great portion of the minions by only using Ice beam with his two arms. He also stunned them, using Earth power. Sinclair approached to them and recommended that given his size and combat abilities, he should fight Gilgamarsh hand to hand and open a breach for the rest of the teams if it was possible.

In the turn of Brandon, Psyco cut was his best move to counter the minions and took his time to make it faster. Shadow ball was relative fine; but the moment he tested his water ability against them, he saw how they were falling apart when he was unconsciously removing the water from their bodies, something similar he wanted to try in the purification process back in Ywaru Canyon. The most concerning thing was that he didn’t require too much effort in the task. Aside of his group, no one else was paying attention to him. He explained what he did to them.

“Well, again you didn’t use magic” Sabine commented.

“And if you haven’t mentioned anything, I would believe that they were collapsing on their own” Harry added.

“Whatever the case, you have to use it only when you’re severely outnumbered” Cornelius warned him. “The less people that knows about your ability, the better”

“I agree” Sabine nodded. “Even if it’s not witchcraft, your witch condition won’t help you to prove it, now that we’re surrounded by them”

“Okay” Brandon nodded.

When they finished testing all of their moves, they went to Cerise to know more about Gilgamarsh. From what they learned, his minions could be a real threat if they were bigger in numbers. Cornelius deduced that the strategy was to surround the enemy from all flanks. He said that if they kept their distance, avoid a close engagement and destroy them before they could get close, they shouldn’t have much problems. With the demonstration he did before, Cerise had not doubt that Cornelius would turn the battle in their favor. The real issue was the witch.

Cerise told them that Gilgamarsh was very stealthy and could detect any attempt of strike against him. Harry thought out loud that Cornelius has demonstrated a similar capacity, but the difference was he could disappear from the battlefield and appear when the witch was distracted, not to mention that he was a ghost.

The last thing she said was no one could ever defeat the witch the moment he made his appereance, but there was someone who was reckless enough to annoy him and mock him without worrying of anything. She didn’t know what motives have driven this Pokémon to actually face him and get out unscratched, surprisingly; not to battle him, but to have some excitement. And he has been doing that for some years, more than anyone could say to “hanging out” with Gilgamarsh and survive all of their encounters

“Do you know who this guy is?” Sabine asked.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know” Cerise admitted. “But I heard he lives alone deep in the jungle and he was spotted in multiple occasions during the night, also a few times in the day, going to Gilgamarsh and make fun of him, using any reason to make him mad”

“Don’t you think he’s going too far?” Harry asked.

“Everyone does actually, but he doesn’t care what others say” She sighed. “As long as Gilgamarsh is pissed enough and makes some mistake to laugh at, he’ll keep it doing it times he wants”

“He really needs another hobby” Katrina commented. “But he doesn’t fight him?”

“Attacking him, no; he knows he’s no match for his power; just pester him like there’s no tomorrow; a few times dropping a rock to his head to keep him furious”

“Huh, this guy has some real guts to dare to approach the witch” Sabine admitted.

“Or have no sense of self-preservation” Harry pointed. “To ignore all the danger he possesses just to have some ‘entertainment’… I can’t even…” He wasn’t sure what to think.

“Do you think he’ll appear again?” Sabine asked.

“It’s possible” It wasn’t a thought; it was a reality for Cerise. “Now that we’re preparing against the witch, he would make a last visit to him”

“Let’s hope he doesn’t do it” Katrina sighed. “The last thing we want is a raging witch to fight because of the actions of a prankster”

“I don’t think we have much of a choice” Cerise shocked her head. “It would be luck if he decides to not come for his weekly joke”

After finishing with the last details, covering some topics about the minions’ behavior, attack patterns and ways to cut them from Gilgamarsh to stop them, they returned to the tent to check Stuart, take a quick break and eat something before heading to the hard part: Karuka caverns; where Madeline was hiding. And a certain Mightynea was not relaxed at all. His thoughts were getting darker from a few things he heard when he was receiving the information from the guild members.